Family: It's out of character for missing national guardsman to disappear

by Keaton Thomas, KATU News

PORTLAND, Ore. – Friends, family and strangers gathered Sunday morning to search for an Oregon Air National Guardsman who no one has heard from since Jan. 6.

The crowd canvassed the area around Sellwood for hours Sunday, looking for Marty Nance. Family say Nance has been with the national guard for 32 years. They say his disappearance is out of character.

“We don't know how he went away, Was he forced away? Did he do it willingly? The only thing I do know is that in the 32 years of being an Air National Guard member, he has never missed a drill weekend, and he missed his weekend,” said Lisa Veber, Nance’s sister.

Veber has been spearheading the search effort; this was their third. She said smaller search parties canvassed the area on Wednesday and Thursday too.

“This is alarming. He was a creature of habit. He had things he did every day. He had routines. To just not show up when he knows to show up is alarming. It tells me that something is horribly wrong,” Veber said.

Nance’s car was found last Saturday in Sellwood with his cell phone still inside.

Roughly 75 people gathered Sunday to help search for the missing man. They walked through neighborhoods, parks, and near Oaks Park, hoping to turn up clues. They passed out fliers and spoke with passersby to spread the word.

“Marty is one of those rock-solid guys who'd do anything for anyone,” said Reuben Schug, a friend and fraternity brother.

The search party split up into several groups to cover more ground. Schug led one of those groups searching near Oaks Park.

“We are looking for some sort of clue and we're looking to bump into someone who might have seen him,” Schug said.

Schug says his friend is known by fellow guardsmen as a man of two words, “nope” and “yep."

Veber says they have reason to believe Nance is still in the Portland area, but would not share why. She is holding out hope that they will find her brother.

“He has to be somewhere; you can't vanish. Right now we have no trace, but we are determined to find a trace and maybe today something will break,” she said.

Clackamas County Deputies confirmed with KATU News that they have a missing person report for Nance.

“At this time we have received no information to lead us to believe Mr. Nance is in danger. We have asked all reporting parties to contact us immediately if they discover anything that leads them to believe Mr. Nance is in danger,” a sheriff’s office spokesperson told KATU News.